Publishing as a Commons HumDrumPress
This small-format zine presents an overview of A Living, Breathing Manifesto and A Manual for Publishing the HumDrum Way, two interconnected texts developed by HumDrumPress as part of its ongoing publishing practice.
Described as a 'snapshot', the publication captures both texts at a specific moment in time. Neither the manifesto nor the manual is considered fixed or complete; rather, they are evolving documents that change alongside the practice they reflect. This edition reveals the current state of this process, including its ideas, structures and unanswered questions, at the time of printing.
The manifesto functions as an open, collaborative text that explores publishing as a communal, commons-based activity. It invites continuous engagement, encouraging readers, writers and peers to respond to it, revise it and expand it over time.
The manual, in turn, translates this evolving ethos into practice. Structured as a step-by-step guide, it outlines the methods, principles and working processes that underpin the approach of HumDrumPress to publishing. The aim is to make the model accessible, shareable and reproducible.
Together, the two texts offer a conceptual and practical framework, one speculative, one applied, not as a finished statement, but as an open invitation to engage with, question and further develop alternative approaches to publishing.
• Commons • Publishing Practice • Experimental Publishing
Manual: Paper: 90g & 250g offset/natural paper white, FSC
Manifest: 100g, Typeface: HAL Timezone